Økokrim has prosecuted the owner of Garderobe-Mannen for bankruptcy crime. The company has sold wardrobes to people throughout the country for more than 20 years. Owner and former chairman Erik Bøckmann should have filed for bankruptcy in 2019, Økokrim believes. – The duty to request a tender came into effect on 1 February 2019 at the latest, the indictment states. It is more than a year before the company went bankrupt for the first time in April 2020. Customers queued outside Garderobe-Mannen’s warehouses after the company’s bankruptcy in 2020. Photo: Elisabeth Sundling Petersen Risking prison Økokrim has prosecuted Bøckmann for breaching the duty to tender. This means that they believe he should have realized that the company did not have the funds to continue. – If you run a business with a loss, you have a responsibility to end the business before the loss for creditors becomes greater, says First State Attorney Bård Thorsen to news. First State Attorney Bård Thorsen in Økokrim. Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB Violation of the obligation to tender is punishable by fines or imprisonment for up to two years. – A possible criminal allegation will only come when the evidence has been presented in court, says Thorsen. Demands acquittal news has been in contact with Erik Bøckmann’s defender Trond Karlsen. He does not wish to comment on the case, but has sent the following statement on behalf of his client: This is what Erik Bøckmann says: “My client wishes to convey that he is happy that Økokrim is finally, after more than 3 years, taking the next step so that the case eventually can be terminated. He believes that he has not done anything wrong and that he should therefore be acquitted. He strongly believes that the court will share that opinion when the evidence in the case is presented in court. Bøckmann would like to clarify that this case has absolutely nothing to do with today’s Garderobe-Mannen AS, which is in full operation. This is about an assessment Bøckmann made in March/April 2020. This case is about the fact that Økokrim believes that Bøckmann should have requested a tender in the company in question at an earlier time than he did. It is a fact that on behalf of the company he requested tenders when he realized that there was no basis for further operations due to the Corona pandemic which hit the company hard in March 2020. What the case is about is whether he should have made that decision on a earlier time or not. When you run a large company, it will always be a very difficult assessment with regard to whether the company can manage to overcome the problem or whether you have to throw in the cards without trying more means. When you have many employees and many customers waiting for the delivery of specially adapted products, it is not an easy assessment to make. If you request a tender too early, it is also something you can be criticized for afterwards. Bøckmann is an entrepreneur, who has been running this business since the end of the 1990s, and naturally wanted to do what he could for the company to get through the problems that arose as a result of the Corona pandemic in March 2020. It’s easy for Økokrim to have hindsight when the conclusion is only available afterwards. It is also important for Bøckmann to make it clear that this case is not at all about personal gain for him. He has put significantly more funds into this business over a number of years than he has taken out of the company. These very significant investments were lost in their entirety in the bankruptcy. The company meant a lot to himself, customers and employees, and what he is criticized for is therefore only that he did not give up on saving the company earlier than he did.” 35 million paid in advance. Garderobe-Mannen went bankrupt for the first time in 2020. Since then, Bøckmann has been under investigation by Økokrim. Customers had prepaid for wardrobe solutions for NOK 35 million when the company’s first bankruptcy was a fact. – With this background, we believe that consumers should not pay anything in advance, and at most a small deposit, said consumer lawyer at the Consumer Council Thomas Iversen to news in April. Investigated for several years In autumn 2021, Økokrim received permission from Søndre Østfold district court to search Bøckmann’s home, workplace, cabins and cars. According to E24, Økokrim secured assets worth NOK 40 million. – Bankruptcy crime is a societal problem that, among other things, affects creditors and weakens confidence in business, says Thorsen in a press release. Several bankruptcies The Garderobe man has gone bankrupt twice before. After both bankruptcies, the owners bought up their own inventory and started up with new company names. The wardrobes are produced at a factory in Poland owned by Erik Bøckmann. Today it is Erik Bøckmann’s son Fredrik Bøckmann who runs Garderobe-Mannen. He took over the management after the second bankruptcy. At the latest in April, the company risked its third bankruptcy in four years:
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Chairman of Garderobe-Mannen indicted for bankruptcy crime – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
